offense in 2013, which was carried by RB Devin Bisby, who
graduated. Replacing Bisby will be the task of senior RB Steven Starcher ( 103 carries for 705 yards rushing) and junior
RB Blaine Monroe ( 10 carries for 50 yards rushing). Keep an
eye on talented sophomore WR Frost, who could emerge as
a real playmaker for Gregory-Portland. The defense will be
anchored by their linebackers DeLeon and Bean, they’ll have
to carry the torch while a young defensive line comes of age.
It’s not out of the realm of possibility for the Wildcats, who
will have eight returning starters on offense and defense, to
have a bounce back season.

CORPUS CHRISTI TULOSO MIDWAYWARRIORS

ENROLLMENT: 1,174 ( 9)

2013 RECORD: 5-5

THE COACH: Brian Boone

THE PLAYERS: Matthew Dickson (Sr., RB), Camron Havelka
(Sr., DL) , Brandon Mourer ( Sr., DL), Vince Gutierrez (Sr., OL),
Celeb Rozypal (Sr., QB), Jon Jarisch (Sr., DB) Christian Salazar (Sr., RB) Chris Valdez (Sr., ATH), Tray’von Griffin (Sr., DL)
THE WORD: After finishing the season missing out on the
playoffs, the Warriors will bring back a senior heavy team,
including nine returners on offense and seven on defense.
The attention on offense will be centered around senior RB
Matthew Dickson. Along with Dickson, senior QB Caleb Rozypal are on their third year of varsity. Warriors coach Brian
Boone will rely on sophomore tackle Jacob Rodriguez along
with senior lineman Tsrsay’von Griffin on defense. While the
Warriors may have the talent to have a successful 2014 season, Boone is looking for consistency week in and week out.
As part of a new nine team district, an off week could decide
hinder their chances of a playoff berth. The Warriors will
again be among the smallest schools in the state’s second
largest classification so depth will be a concern for the staff.

CORPUS CHRISTI MOODY TROJANSENROLLMENT: 1,902 ( 2)

2013 RECORD: 2-8

THE COACH: Michael Cantu

THE PLAYERS: Brandon Cantu (Sr., RB), Isaiah Patterson (Sr.,
WR), Michael Vargas (Sr., RB), AJ Patterson (Jr., QB), Arnold Padron (Sr., RB), Elijah Smith (Sr., RB), De’ Tarious Wade (Sr., RB)
THE WORD: The Moody Trojans, like in 2012, struggled in
2013. They were outscored by opponents in the near double
digits. At times, the Trojans went with three QBs, but will
now have to rely largely on senior AJ Patterson, the lone QB
returning in 2014. The offense relied mostly on the passing
game, accumulating nearly 2,400 yards. Most of those yards
came off the hands of Isaiah Patterson, the team’s leading
receiver heading into 2014. But because they relied heavily on the passing game, they were torched in the running
game. It’s likely entering their new district they will stick with
a spread style offense. The Trojans will bring back several
position players including seniors RBs Arnold Padron and
Elijah Smith, who will hopefully improve the team’s chances
in achieving more than four wins over the past two seasons.

THE WORD: Miller missed the playoffs in 2013, but they’re
poised to have a comeback season with 22 returning letterman in 2014. Of those letterman, seven starters are
back on offense. Though passing was not their strong suit
during the 2013 season, the Bucs rushing game kept them
afloat. They’ll rely on that recipe again in 2014 with Swain
and Wade pacing the offense. The offensive line has plenty
of experience returning as well with Porter, Sanchez, Reeves
and Rios all back for their senior season. The defensive
line has some rebuilding to do, but Coach Rodriguez does
like the speed his team possesses on that side. With four
seniors on defense coming back led by Delgado and Evans
experience should help the Buccaneers progress in 2014.

THE WORD: A new era begins for Sharyland football this year
as sister school Sharyland Pioneer opens across town. Pioneer will certainly steal plenty of the Rattlers’ star athletes
over the coming seasons, but for 2014, Sharyland should
be well stocked to continue its run as one of the premier
programs in the Rio Grande Valley as it moves down in classification to 5A (formerly 4A). Sharyland returns only four
starters on offense, but all four were solid contributors to
last year’s squad which marched through the regular season
undefeated for a second straight time. QBs Madden and
Chrysler will again share the reins as leader of the Rattlers’
spread offense. The 2-QB system worked for them last year,
and head coach Ron Adame is banking on it working again.

Sharyland needs to replace its top two WRs from last year in
Christian Martinez and Brandon Garza. Expect Sean Landez,
an explosive do-it-all athlete who starred as a special team’s
ace last year, to thrive with a bigger role in the offense. C
Mora ( 5-10, 270), a three-year starter who was 1st team all-district last year, will anchor the offensive line. Three starters return to a defense that gave up an average of 11. 2 point
per game in 2013. LB Tornero ( 122 tackles, 10 sacks) and
DE Serna ( 65 tackles, 8 sacks) are the best of that bunch,
and figure to make Sharyland’s 3-4 multiple defense tough
to score on again in 2014.

THE WORD: Had Santos Villarreal been around for the playoffs, the Patriots’ season likely would have lasted a little
longer in 2013. Alas, a foot injury knocked him out for the
season late in the year and Mission Veterans Memorial was
forced to play out the stretch without their do-it-all QB. The
Patriots were still able to claw their way into the postseason, but fell to Laredo Martin in bi-district 40-27. Still, the
time Villarreal did spend on the field was nothing less than
spectacular. The incoming-senior accumulated 2241 total
yards ( 1,351 passing, 910 rushing) while scoring 25 TDs ( 11
passing, 14 rushing). With his top WR (Tovar, 33 rec., 372
yards) returning, expect Villarreal to continue making plays
in 2014. Defensively, the Patriots brings back four starters
and should be stout up the middle with Flores ( 101 tackles,
21 for a loss) leading the LB crew and Garcia ( 76 tackles, 21
for a loss, 7 sacks) anchoring the defensive line.

THE WORD: Edinburg Vela made great strides in its second
year of varsity ball, improving from a winless inaugural campaign in 2012 to reach .500 in 2013. A trip to the playoffs
eluded the Sabercats, however, as narrow losses to Donna
( 16-13 2OT) and Edinburg Economedes ( 32-27) did them in.
Vela returns six starters on offense, highlighted by Lopez
( 1,425 passing yards, 550 rushing yards, 22 total TDs) and
a plethora of WRs (Arguelles: 22 rec., 365 yards, 3 TDs;
Brandon Gomez: 21 rec., 372 yards, 3 TDs; DeLuna: 19 rec.,
180 yards, 2 TDs). The Sabercats bring back six starters to
their 4-2-5 defense, but none of those guys reside of the
defensive line, so they’ll lean heavily on their back seven
early in the season, which should be formidable with the
return of Regalado ( 39 tackles, 2 sacks, 7. 5 TFL) and Lopez
( 39 tackles, 1 sack, 5 TFL). With another year of experience,
plus a friendly drop down in classification, 2014 could easily
be the year Vela crashes the postseason party, but not if it
doesn’t improve in red zone efficiency and turnover margin –
two facets of the game it struggled with in 2013.

THE WORD: Rio Grande City made the most of its playoff trip
in 2013. After sneaking into the postseason with a sub-.500
record, the Rattlers beat Corpus Christi Ray in bi-district,
48-40, and then gave heavily-favored Harlandale all it could
handle before falling valiantly, 33-28. Rio Grande City should
be beefy along the offensive line with Diaz leading the way.
Defensive speed will also be a team strength, which should
bode well in a district where many of the heavy-weights run
a version of the spread. RGC runs a spread itself, but has
no clue who its signal-caller will be. Whoever does end up
winning the QB job will a have a pair of experienced WRs
to throw to in Longoria and Garcia, plus a decent O-Line to
wall off oncoming defenders. The Rattlers had trouble making stops in third down last year, a problem they’ll be surely
working to fix this year. With Sharyland, Mission Vets and
Edinburg Vela all consensus picks to finish in the top 3, RGC
should be in a dogfight for the district’s last playoff spot, and
will need every stop they can get after giving up at least 30
points in nine of 12 games last year.

THE WORD: Roma rode the legs of All-State RB Orly Solis to
a 6-4 record last season. Unfortunately, that wasn’t good
enough to make the playoffs for the first time, as the Gladiators were the odd man out on a three-way tiebreaker with
Rio Grande City and Mission Veterans Memorial. The fleet-footed Solis will surely be missed, but with plenty of experience coming back on both sides of the ball, Coach Habecker
is confident his team will still compete for a playoff spot in
2014. The rock of this squad is their five three-year starters:
A. Ramirez, Hinojosa, Lozano, Cantu and Castillo. A. Ramirez
(6-foot, 4. 51 40) is coming off a standout season where he
hauled in 11 TD passes and was named 1st team All-District. He’ll continue getting looks in the red zone, but don’t
expect Roma to stray too far away from their pistol formation, downhill running game, as Habecker is confident that
his new 1-2 punch at RB (Rodriguez, Espinoza) can get the
job done behind a stout O-line led by Hinojosa and Castillo.
Cantu will lead the defense after recording 120 tackles last
year. The Gladiators also return three LBs (Lozano, Ramirez,
Gonzalez) to their 3-4 multiple look.

THE WORD: The future always looks bright in Sharyland ISD.
Although the Pioneer Diamondbacks will certainly have their
work cut out for them this year, their first of Varsity football,
the Sharyland pipeline will likely prove fruitful in the long run.
For now, however, Wheeler must deal with a roster with only
five seniors, and just one player who’s started extensively at
the varsity level (Garza, who made 77 tackles, 13 for a loss,
at Sharyland last year). That will make life difficult in a district where five of the seven teams either made the playoffs,
or finished .500+. The Diamondbacks will run a multiple
spread offense and a 3-4 defense. Wheeler, previously the
DC at Port Isabel, likes the overall team speed and doesn’t
think a playoff trip is out of the question despite the obvious
hurdles. Garcia is a player to watch out for on offense. The
tiny ( 5-7, 150) slot receiver was one of Sharyland’s top track
athletes last year, and is a menace in space.

THE WORD: Pharr Valley View returns seven starters on
offense and eight on defense as HC Ubaldo Pena begins
his second year as head coach of the Tigers. A roster that
already lacked depth across the board was depleted by
injuries in 2013 as Valley View stumbled to a 2-8 record ( 1-6
in district). Valley View should have everyone healthy for fall
practice, however, and with Coach Pena expecting up to 45
players to dress out (up from the 27 he had at one point last
year) there are reasons to be optimistic in Tigerland. Valley
View will run, run and run some more out of its Slot-T offense.
Pena has a pair QBs who both have experience in executing
the option in Castillo (who was injured most of last year) and
Lince. But to really compete in what should be a competitive District 31-5A, Valley View must improve on defense,
where it allowed an average of 41. 8 points per game last
year. “This senior class has been with our staff for two years.
They have grown with us and matured with us. They are few,
yet committed and enthusiastic about the possibilities that
exist in their athletic endeavors. They are earnestly looking
forward to closing their high school careers with a BANG.
One key cog from our senior class is Ryan Perez, our best
O-line guy. He is ready to take his leadership role to greater
heights,” said Coach Pena who despite increased numbers
in the program is still concerned about his team’s depth.

THE WORD: “La Maquina Amarilla” kept on rolling under
rookie head coach Joe Marichalar last year, winning its first
outright district title since 2007 to put the new HC in good
graces with the Yellowjacket faithful. Although E-E’s season
ended in disappointing fashion with a 28-27 overtime loss
to Alice in bi-district, Marichalar’s more wide-open offense
proved to be a nice change of pace from former HC Joe
Solis’s old-school, grind-it-out style, as the Yellowjackets